The influence of loading rate on the ultimate properties and fracture mechanism of styrenic thermoplastic elastomers

The influence of loading rate on the tensile fracture of polystyrene-polyisoprenepolystyrene (SIS) and polystyrene-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-polystyrene (SEBS) has been investigated. The tensile strength of SIS initially increased with increasing strain rate, eventually reaching a plateau at elevated strain rates. In contrast, the tensile strength of SEBS was relatively unaffected by strain rate. The fracture surfaces of the tensile test specimens were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The fracture surface morphologies indicated that fracture initiated via cavitation, followed subsequently by void coalescence and catastrophic fracture. For both materials there was no qualitatively obvious change in fracture surface morphology with increasing strain rate. The results indicate that the ultimate strength of styrenic thermoplastic elastomers is governed by the nature of the dominant failure mechanism at the molecular scale; when chain scission dominates, the tensile strength is independent of the strain rate, but when chain pull-out dominates, the tensile strength increases with increasing strain rate.